Innovators Honored

Carnegie Mellon University faculty members Krzysztof Matyjaszewski and Raj Reddy and President Subra Suresh have been elected Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

NAI Fellows are recognized for their "prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions and innovations that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society."

Matyjaszewski, the J.C. Warner University Professor of Natural Sciences and professor of chemistry in the Mellon College of Science is best known for the discovery of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), a novel method of polymer synthesis that has revolutionized the way macromolecules are made. Matyjaszewski has used ATRP to make a wide range of "smart" materials that respond to environmental changes including polymers that can be useful in the aviation and automotive industry, nanogel capsules that can be used for targeted drug delivery, and sealants that are used in the manufacturing of self-cleaning glass.

Matyjaszewski is a co-inventor on 132 international and 46 U.S. patented technologies, and has 26 U.S. patent applications pending approval. ATRP technology developed by Matyjaszewski has been licensed to 16 companies across the world, and the CMU spinoff company, ATRP Solutions, aids companies as they develop next generation materials.

Reddy, the Mozah Bint Nasser University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics, was the founding director of CMU's Robotics Institute and is a former dean of the School of Computer Science. He developed the first system capable of recognizing continuous speech, and his research team subsequently developed many of the ideas underlying modern commercial speech recognition technology. Many of these ideas were subsequently adopted in a variety of applied artificial intelligence systems. In 1994, Reddy received the Turing Award, the highest honor in computer science, for his work in pioneering practical, large-scale artificial intelligence systems.

His research interests extend beyond speech recognition to include robotics, human-computer interaction, innovations in higher education and efforts to bridge the "digital divide," particularly for people in developing nations. He initiated CMU's autonomous vehicle program, which subsequently has spawned numerous innovations.

Fellows are nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to innovation in areas such as patents and licensing, discovery and technology, significant impact on society, and support and enhancement of innovation.

President Suresh has had a long and distinguished career as a materials scientist, where he has focused on materials used in a range of industries and applications. His most recent work involves biomaterials, where, among other ideas, he and his colleagues have devised new microfluidic platforms for human disease diagnostics, therapeutics and drug efficacy assays. He has registered 21 patents related to his research. Prior to joining CMU, President Suresh served as director of the National Science Foundation and dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's School of Engineering.

Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations Andy Faile will oversee the March 7, 2014 induction of the 2013 class, which includes 143 new fellows, at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va. The ceremony will take place during the third annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors.